Tag: British Army

And once again, a low moment centered around one of the Democrats’ celebrity House freshmen, Ilhan Omar. Bernie Sanders called Trump racist: Ilhan Omar is a leader with strength and courage. Where is the regret over its rhetoric in the Kavanaugh confirmation battle? When the moment suits, then Omar and Ocasio-Cortez are the powerful voices of a new generation — in Ocasio-Cortez’s case, powerful enough to get Democratic presidential front-runners to immediately and eagerly sign on to her “Green New Deal.” Omar and her allies were powerful enough to get the Democrats to water down their condemnation of her blatant anti-Semitism. And make no mistake, their identity is part of their power. But then when the moment changes, the meaning of their identity changes. When Republicans attack, there is indignation. The powerful are attacking the powerless. They cannot work diligently to elevate Omar’s voice and then rule out of bounds attacks against the person they’ve elevated — especially when her own words are often hateful and cruel. But powerful people are responsible for their words and ideas, and when Omar goes too far, it is not racist — nor is it incitement — to call her to account.

Cabinet ministers were told they must agree emergency contingency plans to keep planes flying to North America and Australia, as well as keeping British troops legally in Bosnia, in case the EU forces a no-deal exit. Before their marathon cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the cabinet secretary, Sir Mark Sedwill, briefed ministers that major security and commercial decisions would need to be completed if Brussels rejected Theresa May’s plan to ask for a short extension to article 50. A cabinet source said the decisions were likely to result in large costs to the taxpayer and that decisions would also need to be taken on direct rule in Northern Ireland and payment of the UK’s £39bn divorce bill to the EU. Negotiations would need to be urgently completed on a future fisheries agreement so that EU fishing boats could be expelled from British waters. Sedwill, the UK’s highest-ranking civil servant, is said to have warned cabinet ministers that some of the biggest decisions were likely to be very difficult to reverse, because they involved international agreements. The warnings from Sedwill, who is also May’s national security adviser, follow an earlier letter he wrote to ministers warning that no deal would lead to food price rises and a reduction in security capacity. Sedwill also warned that the UK would face a recession “more harmful” than the 2008 financial crisis and that food prices could increase by up to 10%. On Wednesday, Lord Kerslake, a former head of the civil service, called for the analysis to be made public. “The publication of such advice now is vital to ensure that parliament is fully informed, and to avoid any suggestion that information has been partially leaked to support a particular point of view.” At least 14 members of May’s cabinet spoke out against the possibility of a long article 50 extension and would only endorse a short Brexit extension. However, on Wednesday the European commission president, Jean-Claude Juncker, said that unless the withdrawal deal was passed within nine days the UK would crash out of the EU or have to sign up to a long delay.

But Watchtower Adventures owner Mark Rice fears he could go bust if Brexit brings back controls along the currently free-flowing frontier. "You just don't know, you could wake up some morning the next day with the road blocked," he said. "It would probably close me down, that is the big fear, and I've put everything I have into it." Advertisement Where stag dos and hen parties trade luminous paintball volleys, British Army base "Romeo 21" once loomed during the conflict that tore the British province of Northern Ireland apart for three decades. Three watchtowers and a helicopter pad commanded a panoramic view of the border between County Armagh in Northern Ireland, and County Louth in the Republic. "You woke up in the middle of the night with the helicopters flying over your house," Rice remembered. The region's turbulent history is now part of the paintballing park's marketing strategy. At the same time, the haunting hidden remnants of the army base have surfaced again after a heat wave last summer that kindled gorse fires in the area. Coils of rusted barbed wire, heavy metal bolts and wiring are now visible - a reminder that the past in this troubled zone lies just under the surface. "We're now again talking in the language of orange and green, British and Irish, nationalist and unionist, republican and loyalist."